Happy New Year

And a lily pond in the very center of a dark forest

Hello, this is Priya Iyer. Welcome to Ten Thousand Journeys where I explore the themes and stages of archetypal journeys through personal essays, poems, and books. If you’re reading this in an email, I hope you’ll also visit the website to take part in the community conversation and to dip into the archives. If you are not already subscribed, you can subscribe here.

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Dear Reader,

Though I’ve lived in the United States for 27 years, I was born in Tamil Nadu in South India, and today is the Tamil New Year¹. The beginnings of new years feel like a significant threshold and I thought I would share with you something I wrote last summer, back when there were fewer people reading this newsletter.

In every journey, there are thresholds- a line, a border, an edge, a gate, a doorway, a bridge, a passageway, a span of time, or set of behaviors- that lie between the old, familiar, known world and the new, unknown world. Because thresholds are the first step into the unknown, they can evoke fear, doubt, and anxiety. Whether thresholds are physical spaces or measured in time or behaviors, they are liminal (Latin ‘limen’ or ‘limin’=threshold) or transitional spaces: a lot of change is happening here. I remember traveling in trains in India when I was a child. The train compartments were linked by tall accordion-like connectors that passengers used to cross from one compartment to the other. I don’t think you were allowed to, but people did it all the same. The connectors were made of rubber or some other soft material, and they felt unstable and unsafe. When you were moving through the connector, you were literally in transition. That’s one example of what crossing a threshold zone feels like. Or, say, you start a new lifestyle habit. In the beginning, it’s hard to maintain this habit. You forget more times than you remember. You face some internal resistance to this change or maybe your friends don’t want to hang out with you because they don’t like your new lifestyle. You wonder if this habit is really worth the effort, or if you are going to be able to sustain it. This too is the liminal time-space of a threshold, the old you slowly changing into a different you.

Today, I’d like to offer another image for your meditation on thresholds. Next time you are faced with a personal threshold of change, think of a lily pond in the very center of a dark forest.

Photo by Vasilina Sirotina on Unsplash

The forest is shrouded in the silence of dusk, yet another liminal time. The water of the lily pond is still except for the occasional ruffle caused by darting small fish. Hundreds of lily pads cover part of the water's surface, forming a precarious dark green island. Slender yellow-pink lily buds stand proudly in the middle of inky water. The buds are tightly closed, like a clenched fist unwilling or unable to soften. The entire scene looks like something straight out of a painting. Lush. Vivid. Magical. But the magic isn't only in the setting. Every time you venture upon a new life threshold or take the tiniest step towards bringing more of yourself into fruition, imagine that a lily bud in the pond in the middle of the forest softens. And in the dark of the night, the water lily blooms.

When you hold that image, and place a hand on your heart, you might experience that same softening, as though you too are a waterlily on the verge of blossom. Softening, as a way of approaching a threshold of personal change can mean befriending one’s fears (internal threshold guardians) and recognizing their intent to keep us safe. Softening looks like offering oneself a helping hand and making space for both fear and change. Softening looks like ally-ship (not a word) with oneself.

Reader, where in your life is a threshold coming up? What has your experience been of past thresholds? What is your best advice to anyone navigating a threshold of change? I would love to hear from you! A very Happy Tamil New Year!

Best,

Priya

1. The Tamil new year falls on the day the sun enters Aries in mid-April (Vedic calendar).